Perfect and timely diagnosis is the key to good health. Best-of-breed technology yields exceptional clinical outcomes for patients giving them the maximum chance of recovery and staying healthy. You can now book your diagnostic appointments online using Apollo edoc.
PET CT Scanner
PET (Positron Emission Tomography) is a medical imaging tool that assists physicians in detecting diseases. Simply stated PET scans produce digital pictures that can in many cases identify various forms of cancer damaged heart tissue and brain disorders such as Alzheimers Parkinsons and Epilepsy. Technically PET is a medical imaging technology that images the biology of disorders at the molecular level much before anatomical changes become visible.
APET scan is very different from an ultrasound X-Ray MRI or CT which detect changes in the body structure or anatomy such as a lesion (forexample a sizeable tumour) or musculoskeletal injury. A PET scan can distinguish between benign and malignant disorders (or between aliveand dead tissue) unlike other imaging technologies that merely confirmthe presence of a mass.
A PET scan can in many cases identify diseases earlier and more specifically than ultrasound X-rays CT or MRI.
PET can also help physicians monitor the treatment of the disease.
How does it work?
When the disease strikes the biochemistry of our tissues and cells change. In Cancer for example cells begin to grow at a much faster rate. A PET scan can take a digital picture of the abnormal cellular structure andsound the first warning signal!
The most common form of a PET scan begins with the injection of a glucose-based radio-pharmaceutical(FDG) that travels through the body eventually collecting in the organs and tissues targeted for examination. The patient lies flat on abed/table that moves incrementally through the PET scanner.
The scanner has cameras that detect the gamma rays emitted from the patientand turns those into electrical signals that are processed by acomputer to generate medical images. The bed/table moves a few inchesagain and the process is repeated.
This produces digitalimages that are assembled by the computer as a 3D image of the patients body. If an area is cancerous signals are stronger than the surrounding tissue since more of the radio-pharmaceutical (FDG) is absorbed in those areas.
*Service currently available only in Chennai Delhi and Hyderabad
** All appointments on Apollo edoc can only be booked upto 48 hours in advance. For assistance call our Health line 6600 1066.